1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a knee protector used in automotive vehicles which protects the knees of vehicle occupants in front seats when a collision occurs.
2. Background Art
Generally, when automotive vehicles are subjected to a of frontal collision, the upper body of the vehicle occupant in a front seat is held to the seat by the seat belt. However, because of possible deformation of the vehicle's interior by the collision, the knees of the occupant are in danger of violently contacting the column cover of the automotive vehicle or so forth. Therefore, knee protection becomes necessary as a safety feature.
Published Unexamined Utility Model No. 52-43234 discloses a system for leg protection. A protector which is made from metal, synthetic resin or such, is located under the lower part of an instrument panel. Certain protectors are multi-layered in the direction of the knees protecting them when the vehicle is involved in a collision.
Published Unexamined Japanese Utility Model No. 54-32445 discloses a system for protecting the knees of the occupant of a vehicle. A knee pad is located between a projecting portion under the steering column of the vehicle and the knees of the occupant. The pad is formed by collision-energy member which can be deformed by the pressure of the vehicle occupants' knees during a collision.
Japanese Published Unexamined Utility Model No. 57-47554 discloses a system for knee protection in which a support member of relatively soft construction connected to a knee pad as a shock absorber collapses when the knees of a vehicle occupant come into contact with the pad.
Japanese Published Examined Patent No. 53-30219 discloses a knee holding system having a hammock-like tension system.
In the knee protector arrangements such as mentioned above, absorption of kinetic energy is attempted by deforming a protector when a shock load is applied. Thus, the shock load applied to the occupant in the front seat above the knees is restricted to a constant acceptable level.
However, the direction of this shock load depends on leg position and other factors. Therefore, it will not always be the same direction, so that the deformation mode of the protector may be unstable and the load applied to knees is dispersed in various ranges. Thus, the load cannot always be restricted to an acceptable level.